Bicycle



Oct. 5,' 1 943. 7 J. H. 'HORST MAN 2,330,892

' BICYCLE r Filed April 8, 1941 Patented Oct. 5, 1943 UNITED STATES FA ENTTbF-Ficn John'H. Horstman, Dayton, Ohio, assignortoThe Huffman 'Manufacturing Company, Dayton,

Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application April 8, 1941, Serial No. 387,456

1 Claim. (01. 280-276) This invention ,relates to bicycles and more particularly to a resiliently mounted bicycle.

It is the principal object of the invention to provide a resilient mounting for the front wheel of a bicycle that is simple in construction, readily accessible for adjustment and which is capable of long life and with substantialfreedom from objectionable wear.

It is a further object to provide such a front Wheel mounting in which the forces of compression are controlled to act at all times in direct opposition to the supportingstructure, and in which the position of the mechanism is automatically varied with each condition of loading and compression in use to maintain a predetermined line of action of the compression'force.

It is a still furtheriobject to provide such a mounting in which the parts transmitting the force move in substantially, a plane throughout the range of movement of the operating parts.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description, the accompanying drawing, and the appended claim.

In the drawing, which discloses a preferred embodiment of the invention, 7

Fig. 1 is a, broken view showing the elements of a bicycle frame together with the resilient front fork structure of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a broken sectional view on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal broken sectional view 'on the line 33 of Fig, 1; and l Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view showing the principal elements of the structure in various positions of adjusting movement. I

The bicycle frame is indicated generally. at It! and comprises any suitable frame structure to which is attached the head member ll,,usually being integrally secured as by welding or the like. The steering post l2 projects upwardly, from the head for receiving the handle bars, and from the lower portion of the head there projects in the usual manner the fork crown I3, this being reinforced internally by the steel reinforcement member I 4, also in accordance with usual practice. The post l2 and fork crown lilare thus rotatable together with respect to head II and,

form a steering post assembly.

The fork crown in accordance with the present invention is apertured to receive transverse hinge bolt I6 carrying a castle nut-l1 at itsone end, the bolt being suitably drilled to receive a cotter pin or the like for securing the nut against accidental loosening. The fork sides are sh wn at 20, h ying their lower. ends either apertured or slotted as shown at 2|, and at their upper ends being provided with brackets 22, secured'in place by welding or the like, and apertured to be received over hinge bolt l5, at opposite sides of the fork crown. The

two fork sides are also permanently secured together by means of fork yoke 23 also welded respectively .to-the upperends of the fork sides. A pair of reinforcement members 24, in the form of control braces; are likewise received over the hinge bolt, and preferably located outwardly of the brackets-.22. SuchJreinforcement members are;provided with'suitable forward and upward curvatures to present-a pleasing and attractive outline, and to provide the proper reinforcement for the main control. rods, now to be described.

The two' control rods 26 extend from the wheel axle, and are suitably apertured at 21' to bereceived over 'the wheel shaft upon opposite sides thereof. They are preferably of tubular construction to provide the maximum strength char acteristics without excessive weight, andprojectf upwardly and terminate adjacent the upper ends of control braces 24. I

Above the upper end of head ll there is a bracket 30, whichis formed with an upwardly extending abutment plate'3l, this bracket being bolted in place upon the steering post assembly, and hence maintaining a rigid relationship with respect to the steering post assembly. A shown in Fig.1, the abutment plate 3| stands substantially vertically, and also is preferably located approximately 'in the" vertical 'plane passing through the axis of hinge pin l6 and the pivotal mounting of the fork sides 20. V The abutment plate 3| is provided with a cen-, tral aperture, andon the forward side is recessed as shown at 32, Within this recess andlsur l roundingthe aperturethere'isfastened a guide washer 33, preferably secured to the face .of the plate as by welding or the like. Thewasher has .an annular forwardly projecting collar .34 of substantially largerinterior diameter than the aperture through the plate, and adapted to serve as a guide and supporting surface for the end of a compression spring 36.- As. shown the springis of suitable diameterand shape to fit over the washer 33 and the annular 'collar134, the end coil of the spring being fiattenedso that it has a proper seat againstthe washerqand the'face of; the abutment plate, suchthatwhen compressed or underload, it normally tends to main.- tain' itself in a predetermined relation :to' the face .of such plate, Preferably this relationship is such thatthe spring tends to stand perpendicular to the face of the plate.

A yoke member 40 having a substantially U- shape is provided forengaging with the opposite end of the spring and for interconnecting with the ends of the control rods to transmit the spring force thereto.- For this purpose the outer ends of the yoke are provided with threaded apertures as shown at 4|, to receive the, end of shouldered bolt members 42. The shoulder 43 is of larger diameter than the threaded portion, and when,

fastened into the yoke is adapted to be received against the outer face of the yoke thus providing.

an enlarged bearing surface, 43 overwhich the,

ends of the control rods 26 and the,reinforce:v

ment rods 24 are freely received. A spring washer 44 is also received over the shoulder, and provides for exerting suflicient pressure against-the ends of these rods to avoid objectionable noise or Y shouldered jam nut -5l,-over which-the end of thespring seats, the. end. of'the spring being flattened as described above to provide av proper and-uniform flat. face f0r..the..trarismissi0n; of the spring force and to maintain, the springand the .yokemember in continuously-:alined .and d'L- rectly opposed relation ,to' the, faceMof .the..abutment plate 3L, The-bolt, is threaded through-the end of the yoke, and, on its outer end receivesan acorn. nut 52, the positiQn 0f, whichjis-adiustable to vary the tension'of the spring and to. the device toaccommodate, different weights ;of riders. 1 1

At s hi th bq ti o m dwi ha fled I 53, under which there is receivedametal, washer 54 whichprovides for, transmitting the thrusigo-n the boltinto a bumperv 55.; This bumper may be a spring. similar to spring but preferably is constructed as a rubber member as shown adapted to bear against the rearwface of abutment .plate 31;. This construction provides for checking expansion of, the spring with; a resilient action, and thus checks rebound during'theride, or .when for any reason the load shouldbe sud denly reduced orremoved-irom the bicycle,

In operation, and referring to. the '.dia gram,- matic showing in Fig.4, thefull. lines represent the parts substantially in the free or. unloaded position of; the bicycle. In this position,'the spring 36 is. in the position of its maximum expansion, and hasdrawn thebolt head 53, ,up against the bumper 551:0 bring the same against abutmentplate- 3 I.

'zontalpositign throughout its movement of transtimes freely mounted upon the ends of the control rods, in the nature of a floating member, and is thus free to assume its own angular relationship. Such angular relationship is determinedby the force exerted on the compression spring, which develops a strong component tending torestore the parts to directly opposed relationupon any displacement therefrom. Thus the yoke member swivelsabout the ends of the control rods in the course of their movement to tend to maintain itself inpredeterrnined relationship to the abutment plate. In the arrangement shown, with the abutment plate standing substantially vertical, the yoke member tends to followandmaintain itself in a substantially horilation.

1 It will-be further evident that the bolt 50 being,;.fi-; ced1y secured in the yoke, will likewise be maintained in predetermined relationship with respect to the abutment plate. This meansthat only-a relativelysmall clearance is required for providing-for I movement of the bolt through the aperture in the abutmentplate-and assures that atall times and -under-all conditions of compression, the bolt will be maintained essentiallynormal. to the-plate and: without producing material or objectionable frictional Wear or rubbing against the sides of: the aperture. The-arrangement of theipivotal movement :ofthe yoke with respect to. the vertical plane-passing through the axis of shaft vI B-dsfurther desirable as providing for the arrangement of the parts to be such that bolts 42 Will' stand approximately -in this plane in the n iid'dle,positior iof their arcuate movement.

Thus-with alesser loadfthe -bolts 42"W-i11 move forwardly slightly beyond the -topcenter positi'on,=, and-in the fully loaded position will-move rearwardly a-similardistancer However-the to- The dotted-line showing in 14 represents substantially the intermediate and maximum positions of compression ofthe spring. 'lhroughoutthese several positions, the ends fof the control rods 26--are shown as following anarcuate path about the center determined --by thepivot axis'of the bolt-I6. The yoke moves in transe lation forwardly and rearwardly with the ends of the control rods but being swivele'd upon the rods, does not swing in this arouate path, and is not required to assume the-angular position which would result.- if: it .did. follow .this arcuate path. In: the .present. constnuction, the .-yoke is. at all tala movement is limited, and-byreason of occurring at'or aboutthetop of: the arcuatetravel of the mods-the total extent of vertical movement of the yoke-assembly-from fully-compressed to fullymextended :positions'is very-smal1 and :as a practical matter, negligible.- Consequently-a limiteddegree of clearance around the bolt will providefor properand continuous operation and avoidzexcessivewear and rubbing; Likewise the absence of angularl-y-directed forces assures a more firm and steady support and assures that theacom-pressive action will be uniformly-oilstributed over the spring andv bumper members.-

ceiving' the wheel therebetween, control rods extending-upwardlyfrom-the lower ends of said fork sides, means-for causing the upper ends of said control rods to move in an arcuate path about the pivot axis of saidfork sides, an abutment plate extending forwardly and upwardly fronr'said assemblyin fixed-relation theret a yoke member, means forpivotallyattaching said control-rods to -said yoke member providing for free pivotal movement of said rods in translation with respect to said yoke,-resilient- 'means interposed between said abutment plate and said yoke member for yieldably supporting theload on said bicycle, saidresilient means having flattened guide portions at the endsthereof for engagel ment with said abutment and with'said yoke rethroughout its extent of travel, a rod fastened l to said yoke and projecting rearwardly through an axially aligned aperture in said abutment plate and movable with said yoke in an axial direction through said aperture, and resilient means, carried'by said rod on the opposite side of said abutment plate for checking rebound. l

JOHN H. HORSTMAN. 

